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France Tag

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on November 16, 2015 13 Comments
Speaking from the G20 Summit in Turkey Monday morning, President Obama addressed the terrorist attacks that shook Paris late Friday night. "Much of our attention has focused on the heinous attacks that took place in Paris... We're working closely with out French partners as they pursue their investigations and track down suspects. France is already a strong counter-terrorism partner and today we're announcing a new agreement. We're streamlining the process which we share operational and military intelligence with France," said President Obama. Has the President changed his tune on ISIS, at least when it comes to the type of threat the wannabe caliphate poses? The reader may remember the oft-tossed around reference the president once made about ISIS, calling them a "JV" team. Last year, during an interview with New Yorker Magazine, President Obama said of al Qaeda groups, "the analogy we use around here sometimes, and I think is accurate, is if a jayvee teams puts on Lakers uniforms, that doesn't make them Kobe Bryant."

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 16, 2015 9 Comments
Brave souls who watched the CBS Democratic Party debate Saturday night were treated to a serious-minded, sober event in which the moderators asked fairly challenging questions. The responses were unsurprising, and should not change the direction of the primary in a significant way. However, the Republican Party will find a great deal of fodder for the presidential battle ahead. There were a few highlights lowlights that I think are worth featuring. When asked, I have always asserted that "black swan" events, or, those events that are not readily anticipated and make a significant impact, will be key in the 2016 outcome. The Paris attacks were the first of these "black swans".

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 14, 2015 22 Comments
There's something about Paris. The City of Light. And Art. And Cafes. And Love. https://youtu.be/93WuCPokDr0?t=33s In many ways, the epitome of western civilization in the form of a city. Which is why it's so hard to see it fall in the past decades into something very different. And which is why it's a target of those who oppose western civilization. I went into our Media Library and searched for the images of "Paris" we've used at Legal Insurrection. It's not pretty.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 14, 2015 18 Comments
Of all the attacks in Paris yesterday, the attack on the Bataclan Theater was the most devastating.
French authorities said more than 80 people died in the club where California-based band Eagles of Death Metal had been playing for about an hour. When the shooting started after four gunmen entered the front of the 1,500-seat theater, dozens struggled to flee out the back alleyway as shots were being fired. Gunmen who had entered, dressed all in black and armed with AK-47 rifles, calmly opened fire randomly at patrons who dived for cover on the floor, according to radio reporter Julien Pearce, who was near the stage when the shooting started. "The terrorists were very calm, very determined, and they reloaded three or four times," Pearce said. "I saw 20 to 25 bodies lying on the floor."
But why the Bataclan, of all the theaters and gathering places in Paris? The answer may lie in the fact that it is Jewish-owned, and has been a target for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions BDS movement and terrorist threats for years. This history was first publicized yesterday by the French Le Point magazine (via Google Translate):

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on November 14, 2015 36 Comments
As France and the world begins to get a clearer picture of yesterday's coordinated set of terrorist attacks in Paris, ISIS has claimed responsibility, and French president Francois Hollande has iterated his statement that ISIS is indeed responsible and has made clear that he wants to lead a swift and "merciless" response. USA Today reports on President Hollande's statement:
Speaking after the security meeting, Hollande said Friday's attacks were "committed by a terrorist army, the Islamic State group, a jihadist army, against France, against the values that we defend everywhere in the world, against what we are: A free country that means something to the whole planet.”
CNN reports on the ISIS statement issued today:

ISIS claimed responsibility for gunfire and blasts that targeted six sites Friday night in Paris, killing 128 people in one of Europe's deadliest massacres in recent years.

In an online statement distributed by supporters Saturday, the terror group said eight militants wearing explosive belts and armed with machine guns attacked precisely selected areas in the French capital.

In addition to the people killed, 180 others were injured, according to the Paris Police Prefecture. More than half of them are in critical condition.

Among those wounded are an as yet unconfirmed number of Americans.  Also from CNN:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on November 13, 2015 104 Comments
Tonight, a group of armed extremists executed a series of coordinated attacks against civilians in Paris, France. As many as 158 people (as being reported by Fox News at 8:30 pm EST) have been killed, with many more injured. At least 5 attackers have been killed; authorities suspect that as many as one dozen people were involved in six separate attacks that occurred all across the city. Each of those six attacks have been confirmed by French authorities. As of the writing of this wrap-up, no group had officially claimed responsibility. There are reports from survivors that the terrorists chanted about Allah and Syria. At around 8:50 pm EST (2:50 am Paris time) French authorities released a bulletin to the media saying that "an unknown number of terrorists are still on the run." Fox News reported via The Guardian (at 9:50 pm EST, 3:47 am Paris time) that French law enforcement officials believe that all of the attackers are dead. The attacks began just before 10 pm Paris time, when terrorists fired into a crowded cafe, leaving "piles" of dead bodies in their wake.

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 07, 2015 15 Comments
It looks like the United States isn't the only country with unhinged union activists. After job cuts were recently announced at Air France, angry union activists actually ripped the clothes off the bodies of airline executives. The Associated Press reports via NBC News:
Air France Execs Lose Shirts as Union Activists Attack Union activists protesting nearly 3,000 proposed layoffs at Air France stormed the headquarters during a meeting Monday, zeroing in on two managers who had their shirts torn from their bodies, scaled a fence and fled under police protection. An Associated Press photographer saw about a hundred activists rush the building after breaking through a gate. Shortly afterward two high-level managers fled, one bare-chested and the other with his shirt and suit jacket shredded. Road access to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris was briefly disrupted, and some flights suffered delays. Although Monday's scuffle was unusually violent, labor relations in France are commonly testy, with unions sometimes even resorting to holding managers hostage — or "boss-napping" — to make a point.

Posted by Mike LaChance on August 24, 2015 14 Comments
The three Americans who stopped a terror attack on a train in France over the weekend were given the Legion of Honor award by French President François Hollande. CNN reports:
France honors 3 Americans, Briton for stopping train attack Three days after they pounced on and subdued a gunman Friday aboard a packed train headed to Paris, American childhood friends Anthony Sadler, Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos received the Legion of Honor -- France's highest recognition. The Americans, who reportedly met in middle school in California, planned on spending the summer sightseeing together. It was Sadler's first trip to Europe, and National Guardsman Skarlatos was on a monthlong break after serving in Afghanistan. Stone is an Air Force serviceman. They will return to the United States celebrated for their courage and quick action, and for exemplifying teamwork and friendship... "By their courage, they saved lives," President François Hollande said. "They gave us an example of what is possible to do in these kinds of situations."

Posted by Mike LaChance on August 22, 2015 19 Comments
A member of the Air Force, a national guardsman and a college student, (all Americans) stopped a terror attack on a French train Friday night. This report from France 24 has the basic timeline of the incident:
Holidaying US servicemen foil French train attack Anthony Sadler, a student studying physical therapy at Sacramento State University, was travelling on a French train with two childhood friends ̶ Air Force serviceman Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos, a National Guardsman ̶ when the three heard a gunshot and breaking glass. "We heard a gunshot and we heard glass breaking behind us, and saw a train employee sprint past us down the aisle," Sadler said from France, describing the incident. They then saw the gunman entering their train car. "I didn't realise what was happening until I saw a guard run past. I looked back and saw a guy enter with a Kalashnikov. My friends and I got down and then I said, 'Let's get him'," said Skarlatos, 22, who returned from service in Afghanistan in July.

Posted by Amy Miller on August 01, 2015 8 Comments
While American activists languished in the debris of their Cecil the Lion meltdown/manhunt, people in Calais have been dealing with a perfect storm of union strikes, stampeding migrants, and a resulting travel standstill. Much has been made of the inconvenience to Brits attempting to cross the English Channel for a summer holiday, but the French city of Calais is truly in a crisis. Over the past week, thousands of migrants have flooded secure areas surrounding the Eurotunnel terminal in an attempt to enter the United Kingdom. At least 9 people have died during the attempt since June, and the very crush of those attempting to get close to access points has caused a dangerous and volatile situation in the city. The migrants, coming mostly from Syria, Eritrea, Somalia and Afghanistan, are fighting to get across the channel and into the UK for a variety of reasons---many are seeking jobs, or asylum---but all who come do so because it is statistically easier to remain legally in the UK than it is in France. The BBC created a video explaining things in more detail. Watch:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 11, 2015 19 Comments
Marie Brenner, writing in Vanity Fair, explores whether Jews should leave France. The French language version of the article is titled Paris En Flammes. With my distant recollection of high school french, that translates as Paris in Flames. But the English language version has a more descriptive title, The Troubling Question in the French Jewish Community: Is It Time to Leave?:
How can anyone be allowed to paint a swastika on the statue of Marianne, the goddess of French liberty, in the very center of the Place de la République?” That was what the chairman of one of France’s most celebrated luxury brands was thinking last July, when a tall man in a black shirt and a kaffiyeh leapt to the ledge of Marianne’s pedestal and scrawled a black swastika. All around him, thousands of angry demonstrators were swarming the square with fake rockets, Palestinian and Hamas flags, even the black-and-white banners of ISIS. Here, barely a mile and a half from the Galeries Lafayette, the heart of bourgeois Paris, the chants: “MORT AUX JUIFS! MORT AUX JUIFS!” Death to the Jews. It was Saturday, July 26, 2014, and a pro-Palestinian demonstration turned into a day of terror in one of the most fashionable neighborhoods of the city.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e7b_1420820113 We covered those riots last summer (some of the videos in the posts have gone bad):

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 26, 2015 16 Comments
The details are just coming in, but there has been a terror attack at a gas factory near Lyon, France. At least one, possibly two, attackers beheaded a man and posted his head on a fence, and tried (unsuccessfully) to blow up the factory. We will update as more details are confirmed. CBS News reports:
One person was found decapitated and two others injured Friday after an assailant -- with a possible accomplice -- drove a vehicle onto an industrial complex near the eastern city of Lyon and tried to blow up a gas factory. "The intent was without doubt to cause an explosion. It was a terrorist attack," President Francois Hollande said at a news conference in Belgium. The attack targeted a chemical factory in the town of Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, about 20 miles southeast of Lyon. The plant is owned by the U.S. firm Air Products. The slain victim's head was found yards away from the body, stuck on a permiter fence, with Arabic writing on or near it. There were also flags or banners bearing Arabic writing found at the scene.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 03, 2015 2 Comments
We have documented many times the role in the spread of anti-Semitic violence in Europe played by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The gross demonization and dehumanization of Israeli Jews by BDS contributes both directly and indirectly to acts of anti-Semitism. We have seen it on the streets of Copenhagen, Malmo, Frankfurt, Berlin, Paris, The Hague, London and elsewhere. It's why Walking While Jewish is dangerous in many cities in Europe.  In Paris, Reporting While Jewish is risky as well. While in theory anti-Zionism can be distinct from anti-Semitism, in reality on the streets of Europe they have merged. Now there is yet another example, via Algemeiner, 40 Person Mob Assaults 2 Jews on Paris’ Boulevard Voltaire:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 18, 2015 8 Comments
We have run several posts about Walking While Jewish in European cities, and the resulting street harassment. Here is another example. Call it "Reporting While Jewish" in Paris. Miri Michaeli Schwartz is a reporter for Israel Channel 10 News. She was doing a report on the streets of Paris regarding the search for the downed Green Wings flight a number of weeks ago, when some Arab men noticed the Hebrew lettering on her microphone. They surrounded her and began to harass her. She just recently posted the short video, which only show a small part of the incident, on her facebook page (if the Facebook video does not load in your browser, try this YouTube link):

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 05, 2015 46 Comments
I have fallen into the trap almost everyone has, in referring to an Iran "nuke deal" and "Framework deal." Based on what the White House has revealed, the "deal" is a very bad deal, as we have explored here repeatedly: It purports to give Iran its dual goals of maintaining and improving its nuclear infrastructure while removing sanctions and ensuring the economic viability of the oppressive Mullah regime. But it's even worse. Based upon statements made after the initial announcements, it's clear that there is no deal, just enough vague verbiage to allow each side to portray the "deal" however it wants. There is no meeting of minds, not binding contract, nothing. This was revealed initially in tweets by the Iranian Foreign Minister disputed White House "spin" on the "deal," insisting that sanctions would be lifted immediately, and crowing that Iran's enrichment would continue. https://twitter.com/HassanRouhani/status/583994063512276992 https://twitter.com/JZarif/status/583723860522115072 Since then, the divergence has grown, The Times of Israel reports:

Posted by Amy Miller on March 23, 2015 6 Comments
The controversial National Front party lost ground to former president Nicolas Sarkozy's center-right UMP party and their allies in the first round of the French elections on Sunday. UMP took 32% of the vote, with Marine Le Pen's National Front (FN) trailing at 26%. Current president Francis Hollande's Socialists came in third with 21% of the vote. All is not said and done for the resurgent Sarkozy, who still has to face a second round of elections on March 29, but it does signal to Hollande's majority that the French people could be ready for change. Don't look for a winning alliance between UMP and the FN, though. From Reuters:
Sarkozy immediately ruled out any alliances between his party and FN candidates in next Sunday's second round, which will decide who controls France's "departements", one level in France's complex multi-layered system of local government. "To those who voted National Front, we understand your frustrations," UMP chairman Sarkozy told supporters at party headquarters. "But this party will not solve France's problems - it will only make them worse," added the ex-president, who came out of retirement last year and hopes to secure the 2017 presidential ticket for his bitterly divided party in primaries next year.
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